Despite All Odds
by MissBlaze
Summary: This is the sequel to Love To Rise Again. Ryou and Ichigo are in love, but when a knife comes through a window, It means someone is out for revenge. Rated for High Masaya bashing!
1. To Love and Care

Hi everybody, Meow55 reporting for fan fiction duty sir (or maim) well I'm not in the army, navy or air force and I probably never will be, so anyway, if you are going to read this story, I suggest that you read **_Love to Rise Again _**because this is the sequel, **_Despite All Odds_**. Thanks again to my reviewers, you rock, well on with the story.

Last time

Then as they were about to kiss again, a knife flew through the air, and landed…

As the knife flew through the air, it cut Ryou along the leg, before it finally ended up in the wall. But before they could see who it was, the hand slid silently out an open window. Ryou's leg collapsed, as he fell towards the ground. "RYOU!" Ichigo yelled, as the young man she loved, hit the ground with a thump. She helped him to his feet, supporting his weight. "I will get whoever did this to you" Ichigo exclaimed, sitting him down on a heart shaped chair. She then raced upstairs to Ryou's medicine cabinet, where she grabbed a bandage. Once she had got this, Ichigo ran downstairs towards the kitchen; there she got a glass of water, to pour onto his wounded leg, and a dry cloth. Once she had come back, Ichigo saw Ryou, about to get up from the chair. "No, sit down" pushing him back into the chair. Ichigo then kneeled down and took the water and started to pour it onto his leg, this was easier because he was wearing shorts. After the wound was cleaned, Ichigo took out a dry cloth to dry it. "You know, you don't have to do this, Strawberry" Ryou said looking down at her. Ichigo just ignored the question and took out the bandage and started wrapping it around his wounded leg. She finished wrapping his leg, by securing it with medical tape. "All done" she said with a sense of relief in her voice. Ichigo then helped Ryou to his feet once again. "Come on, your going to bed" she said, her voice filled with compassion and concern. Ryou trudged up the stairway, with Ichigo helping him, step by little step. 'I wonder why he isn't resisting, Ryou never asks anyone for help' Ichigo thought to herself. Once they had reached his room, after many minutes making their way up the stairs, Ryou got into bed, with the help of Ichigo that is. "You must rest, I will come back in an hour, alright" she said leaving the room. But something was on her mind; she sat down at a table, her hand on her chin. 'Who would attack Ryou, and why?' she wondered to herself. Ichigo thought for several hours, on who would want to hurt the blonde genius that she loved. 'Keiichiro, No, Kish, Maybe, Masaya?' Masaya, the name swirled around in her head, was he the one? The one who hurt Ryou? 'He was angry at him; after all, he still loved me' 'It must have been, who else could it be, the person who hurt Ryou was… Masaya.

Well there is the first chapter, hope you like it, I know it is short, but I am tired and I ready to sleep, I have just enough time to post it, read emails and reviews, and then do some homework. It's only 9:30, it may not seem late but I am really tired, school was tough and I have boatloads of homework, well see you later peeps. MEOW55


	2. To Understand the Possibilities

Hello everybody, how have you guys been, I haven't been feeling well so I couldn't be bothered going on the computer to type, I'm sorry I haven't written in a while, but I will TRY to make this a longer chapter, but I can't guarantee it. (Noticed how I said try in large letters) well anyway, please give me some ideas in your reviews, I'm stumped, and If I don't get at least 5 new reviews, I won't write the next chapter, well on with the story.

'Masaya' just the thinking of his name makes me feel sick' Ichigo thought. Now she knew how Ryou felt, when he thought about him with me. 'But how can I prove it was him? If it isn't, what will I do?' she wondered. That day at work, Ichigo wasn't her usual, peppy self, and everyone noticed. "What's up with Ichigo today, I wonder?" Lettuce asked "And where is the one to tell her to do her job" Mint snickered, referring to Ryou while taking a sip of her herbal tea. Keiichiro overheard this conversation and wondered were his blonde haired friend was; he hadn't seen him since this morning, when he was napping, on top of his bed. So he decided to go and see him. He walked upstairs to where he should be, but when Keiichiro reached the entrance of Ryou's room, he found it, open? As he entered the room, he saw half of the genius's body under the covers, but sitting up, working on a laptop. "Hey Ryou, you've been up here all day, what's wrong?" Keiichiro asked walking over to him. "Oh, nothing" he said, as he took his friends entrance by surprise. "Alright, come down when you're ready" he then walked out of the room, still unsure if his project partner was really ok. Back downstairs, Ichigo was still not acting like her normal self; she was very distant and unapproachable to the question of why she was acting like that. "How can I prove it was him?' that thought, spun around and around inside of her mind, it was if she hated Masaya, well she did but… Her thoughts trailed off to the sound of annoyed customers. Ichigo ran over to a lady, who was waiting impatiently for her order to be taken. "Hey Keiichiro, order for table 6, a cups of lemon tea" Ichigo said walking into the kitchen, when she saw him, fiddling with an overhead camera, she asked, "What are you doing?" Tilting her head, in curiosity. "Just adjusting the security camera" he said, getting down from the ladder. "Are they everywhere in the Café?" she asked curiously, putting down her order tray. "Yes, oh and out the front of the Café too, Why?" he asked, getting the tea ready for table 6. "Well" Ichigo thought for a second 'The knife came from the front window, that's it' "Well, I dropped my, uh, bracelet, yeah that's it, out the front this morning, and I wondering if I could use the tapes to see where I dropped it" she lied, hoping that he would fall for it. "Sure you can Ichigo" he went to get the outside tapes from this morning. When he returned, he was carrying 11 clearly marked tapes, labelling from 1 to 11. "Here, go to the spare bedroom, there is a video player in there" he said going back to the tea. Ichigo headed up to the spare room, once she had gone into the room, she put the tapes in one by one "No, Mint and Zakuro, mailman, no, Lettuce, no, milkman, Pudding, no, no. Ichigo finally got to the last tape. "This has got to be it" she reassured herself, as she put it into the VCR; she sat down and watched it with intense eyes. The tape showed a dark male figure, he was holding a long, sharp butchers knife in his right hand. His hair was short, but she still couldn't make out the colour. "I can't see who this is" Ichigo said, squinting. But just as she was about to press stop, the figure turned around a little, but just enough to reveal a light bruise on his left wrist

(FLASHBACK)

A couple of days ago, Ichigo went to watch Masaya at one of his kendo matches (This was before the broke up) he was fighting a swordsman as strong as himself; the opponent swung his sword and hit Masaya in the wrist. The following day, Masaya showed the bruise to Ichigo, when they went to the central park on a date.

(END FLASHBACK)

"It is Masaya, he will pay" she said to herself, she clenched her fist, as a sign of her anger "Are you ok in there" a voice came from outside. She recognised it as Keiichiro's voice "Yeah, I, uh, found out where the guy, I mean, the bracelet is" she replied, stuttering after every word. "Well ok, but you need to come down, there a lot of customers coming in and the rest of the mews need your help" "Alright, I'll be down in a sec" as she ejected the video, she took the rest of the tapes and headed back to the main area of the café, to help the struggling girls, well except for Mint, who was doing nothing but drinking her afternoon tea. The day went on, as it usually did, Lettuce breaking plates, Pudding breaking more in her acts, Mint STILL drinking tea, and Zakuro, well. "Girls, its time to close the Café" Keiichiro said as he turned the sign to closed. "Thank goodness" Mint said "It has been a hard day" "Mint, you didn't DO any work" Ichigo exclaimed, starting to put up the chairs, "Is something wrong?" Lettuce asked as she was picking up plates that she and Pudding had dropped, just moments before. "No, no, of course there isn't" she reassured them, Ichigo then walked into the change room, where she changed back into her casual clothes. "See you everyone" Lettuce and Pudding said as they exited the Café premises, with Zakuro right behind them, and as usual, Mint followed. This left Ichigo alone, with the exception of Keiichiro and Ryou. But Ichigo had no intension of leaving Ryou alone, even with Keiichiro here; she knew that he would leave sooner or later. So she had to come up with a way of staying here with Ryou, and if he didn't let her, she would stay and sleep on a table, because Ichigo knew that she couldn't leave Ryou by himself, with the person, who goes by the name of Masaya Aoyama, lurking around. She had a feeling that he would come back, even if he had to kill her to get to him. As these thoughts spun through her head, Ichigo heard the floorboards in the hallway creaking, as the sound of footsteps came closer and closer towards the main area of the Café, she saw a hand, holding a knife, a long sharp knife.

Ohhh, another cliffy, one of my reviewers said I was cruel with the ending chapter cliffy, but I think this one has more suspense then the last one, aw well, remember, if I don't get at least 5 new reviews, I won't put up the next chapter, see ya MEOW55


	3. Lovely Love

Well I'm back after a long break, I can't stand not writing, so who cares about waiting for some silly reviews, I'd rather just write, so yeah. But I have had a ton of homework, plus still trying to fit in my rowing, and an acting challenge for school. So I'll try to make this one longer. Oh, I'm sorry again for not updating if you reply you can flame me for not updating sooner and I won't get angry because I deserve it.

Now to name some great reviewers I forgot to mention earlier.

Yukina

NekoStar

Yushi

AngelHonSweetheart

dbzgtfan2004

K paradox

Blue angel101

RyousRayne

Cecilia

Lauren

Thanks guys, now on with the story

As the footsteps came closer, the creaking got louder and louder. The large butchers' knife came out, and Ichigo saw a red liquid, dripping, drop by drop onto the floor below. She gasped as she took a step back, her hand covered her mouth. Ichigo hoped with dear life that the person wouldn't hear her. "Ichigo, where are you?" the voice asked as the person drew closer towards the main part of the café. The voice sounded oddly familiar to Ichigo. "Keiichiro, is that you?" she asked, pulling her hand down from her mouth. "Who else would it be" he replied as the pony tailed man came into view. Still shaking Ichigo asked "What…is…on…that knife?" her words stuttering as they came out of her widely opened mouth. "It's just tomato juice, why do you ask?" "Oh, no reason really" Ichigo said letting out a deep flow of air. Feeling relieved, Ichigo sat down on one of the café's heart shaped chairs. Keiichiro then went over to clean up the mess he had accidentally made. "Why do things like that scare me so easily?" she asked herself, When she felt a slight tap on her shoulder. "Why are you still here Strawberry?" She swirled around to find Ryou standing behind her. "Well I, uh" she paused trying to think of a way to convince him that she could stay with him. "I'm waiting" he said tapping his foot, by the way it was in a sarcastic tone. "Well you see, my parents are out for the night and I was wondering, if I could, well, uh" "Yeah, alright, you big baby" the last words he whispered, to make sure she couldn't here them. "What was that?" Ichigo asked with the sound of curiosity in her voice. It seemed like he had said yes before she could even ask what she wanted to say "Oh, uh nothing" he said heading off towards the closet. Once he had returned, Ryou handed Ichigo some old pj's. "Thanks again, for letting me stay that is" she said bowing the top half of her body. Ryou just gave his usual humph and walked off. "He doesn't even know why I am doing this, the ungrateful little…" her whisper was cut off, "What was that, I didn't seem to quite catch it?" he asked stopping in his tracks "Oh nothing" as she followed him to the room that she would be staying in. "Well, you can sleep in my bed" he said, standing with his arms in his pockets, leaning against the wall. "But, then where will you sleep?" she asked turning towards Ryou, she noticed that his eyes were blank not a sense of emotion, not that he ever had any, but in the last couple of days Ichigo realised that they had been filled with a sign of happiness, and hope for the future. At this moment though, they had gone back to the way they were before, he was just thinking the way he usually did, staring into space. "Ryou, come back to me" she said clicking her fingers in front of his face. "What, huh?" he was in a state of confusion. Turning towards Ichigo "Did you say something, I was, uh, of in thought" "Yeah, if I'm in your bed, where will you sleep?" she asked "I guess on the foldout" he said pointing to the couch next to his bed. "No, you can't sleep there, I will" she said going to sit on the extremely displeasing bed/couch. "No I am, end of discussion" Ryou said as he took some clothes and headed into the bathroom. Once he returned, Ryou saw Ichigo asleep; half on the bed and half on the ground. "Stupid girl" he said with a slight chuckle, as he lifted her up bridal style, Ichigo murmured moving inwards towards Ryou's chest. This stunned him as he rested her on his bed, he gave her a gentle kiss, as he was about to release, Ryou felt her kissing back, Ichigo of course was replying, she grabbed onto the back of his neck, pulling him in, to make a deeper and more passionate kiss. He responded, his hand stroking her hair and the other up the back off her top. (She still hasn't changed) their kiss seemed like it lasted forever. But when they finally surfaced for air, they couldn't speak, but they soon realised that that kiss said more then words ever could. "I…love…Ryou" Ichigo said still trying to catch her breath after the intensity she just had. "And…I love...you" he said still holding her close.

After a while they both fell asleep, in each others arms.

See I didn't leave a cliff hanger this time, (I thank Yushi for that bit of advice) well PLEASE! Can I have some ideas, I am soooooo stumped. But I only want advice from people who absolutely hate Masaya, cause as it said on my summery, he gets something coming to him in the end, and I need ideas to lead up to that moment, so please help! Sorry for not making this chapter longer, well see ya MEOW55


	4. Lost Love

Well, I'm back; I want to try to write this chapter before I go to my family reunion. And if I do, I will write the next one while I am up there, there are some people who gave me advice and I won't name all of them, so instead I will name all the people who reviewed this story

Yukina

Suma Susaki

AngelHonSweetheart

Blue angel101

RyousRayne

Yushi

You guys rock, I would especially like to Suma Susaki, because she has come up with the baseline for this story, and a lot of other good ideas to go along with it, thanks again and please R&R. P.S this may take longer because it is around 8 degrees down here now, I am really cold and that goes double for my hands.

Ichigo eyes opened to the bright light that was emanating from the one opened window at the side of Ryou's room, she sat up, only to come to the conclusion that he wasn't there. Ichigo got up out of bed, still stumbling as she got used to walking again, 'where could he of gotten off to' she said aloud, still scanning the room, with weary eyes. After realising that he wasn't here, Ichigo decided to go downstairs. She got changed into a pink mini skirt, with little strawberries around the edge, and a baby blue tank top, with a little bow on the chest. As she descended to the main part off the Café, Ichigo didn't notice a pool of water on the ground and slipped. She fell onto the ground with a loud thump! "Ow, what person did this? I'm going to kill that son of a…." her voice trailed off as she heard footsteps from the kitchen. Her eyes opened wide again, she was still very cautious, that was since the "Ryou, nearly got hit by a knife" scenario. The figure came out holding a piece of toast, nothing else, just a piece of toast. "Ryou, there you are" he turned a looked at her, his eyebrow cocked. He was only wearing a pair of pants. "And there you are, on the ground" he gave a slight chuckle, through a bite of his, ONE bit of toast. He went and sat down at a table, not thinking twice about helping Ichigo. Ichigo slipped and fumbled, while she tried to get up, and every time she kept falling to the ground. It seemed quite amusing to Ryou, he chuckled as she kept slipping and how her clothes were getting all wet. Ryou then had a bit of sympathy for her and went over to help. He held out his hand, but to his surprise, Ichigo grabbed it and pulled him down with her. "Ahhhhh" he yelled as he hit the ground. "You don't find it as funny when your all wet do you?" she teased. This was when Ryou noticed the bucket of water that he had been using that morning. He grabbed it and threw it over her head. She laid there stunned, her surprised look, then turned to a cheeky grin. "Uh what are you thinking?" he said, a tone of fear in his voice, as he slid away from her. Ichigo then jumped on Ryou getting his front all soaking wet, she then pulled him into a strong kiss, holding his dripping golden locks. His hands making their way up her back and onto her neck. Their bodies rolling around in the water, which had now spread across more of the floor. Once they had finally released, the clothes that they were wearing, (Just a pair of pants in Ryou's case) were dripping wet. "I, uh don't think these will dry for quite a while" Ryou said looking at their clothes. "Yeah" "Well why don't you get changed into your uniform, and I'll get the dryer going" he said as he stood up and walked away. Ichigo also got up, but went to the change rooms. As she walked down the hallway, 'Is that breathing?' she thought to herself, deep breathes, inhale, exhale, it kept repeating. She turned but she couldn't see anyone. 'I swore I could hear someone, or SOMETHING' she shouted in her mind. Ichigo ran towards the change rooms, hoping to find salvation from that noise. Once she was in, she slammed the door shut, leaning against it, making sure that no-one could get in, but that also means that no-one can get out. Ichigo started to walk away from the door, but as she did, a hand grabbed her from behind, it covered her mouth, she struggled to get free, but the grip of this person was to tight, she felt a rope being tied around her ankles, and then around her wrists. She screamed, but it was no use, by that time a cloth was tight around her jaw, she moved and struggled as much as she could, but the ropes were too tight for her to get loose. The person carried her away, outside of the café, and into the park. Tears started to pour from her hazel eyes. 'Ryou, please help me'

The man threw Ichigo against a large oak tree, she slid to the ground. She opened her eyes to reveal to herself who it was that took her away. Her brown orbs stared at the man. His dark hair, dark eyes. 'Masaya' she thought. 'What does he want' her tears started again. "You brought this upon yourself" Masaya said as he removed the cloth that was covering her mouth. He then forced a tainted drink down her throat. Ichigo could tell that it wasn't a normal drink, because it had a strange colour to it. She couldn't resist, she had to swallow it, and she didn't even have a choice.

"Ichigo" Ryou called through the now empty halls of the Café "The Dryer is ready, Ichigo" he said, but no answer. 'I know I'm going to regret this' he said with a sigh, "Ichigo, I'm giving you a raise" silence, absolute silence. Ryou was getting worried, why wouldn't she come, he just gave her a bloody raise, for heavens sake. Ryou searched the café, inside and out, he turned it upside down looking for her, but she wasn't there. "Where could she be?" he said aloud, fear was filling every part of his body, He convinced himself that she could've taken a walk to town, or something. Ryou grabbed his jacket and he headed towards the town, he didn't walk, he ran. For once in his life Ryou was scared, extremely scared. 'What could have happened to her?" thoughts like these engulfed his mind. 'Don't worry Ichigo, I'm coming"

As the tainted liquid poured down her throat, Ichigo tears streamed down her face, her brown eyes going red and puffy from all the crying she had been doing. "This will put you to sleep for awhile, but not the nice kind of one you usually have" Masaya said, he then kicked her in the stomach, making her feel worse then she already did. He then left her lying against the tree, in a very harsh condition. Ichigo felt her stomach hurting, but not from the kick, that felt like nothing compared to the drugs that had entered her body. Her head was spinning; everything around her became a nauseous blur. She felt like even like throwing up, and she had a migraine. 'Someone, please, help me"

Ryou ran as fast as he could towards town, he checked everywhere, her house, the city, beaches, even a women's underwear shop, for some reason. The people there didn't why, they all had confused looks on their faces. Ryou checked nearly every place he thought she would be, but know luck. Then, out of the blue, it hit him, the park. 'She always goes there'

As he arrived, Ryou saw a very pale looking Ichigo lying against the tree, unconscious and unmoving. In shock, Ryou ran over to her, embracing her with his strong muscular arms. "Who did this to you?" he asked her, she didn't reply. He picked her up, bridal style, and carried her back to the Café. As he walked, he couldn't take his eyes off her, she looked very sick, Ryou then came to the assumption that she had indeed have taken drugs. 'But why?' he asked himself, that was when he thought back, if she did, why weren't there any items around her, that she could have used. 'She didn't, someone else did' he realised that Ichigo wouldn't have, but there was a certain person, who would've, Masaya. But this was his answer, Ryou couldn't have done anything about it, until he had the information that proved it. They had made there way to the Café, and it seemed like forever. Once they were inside, Ryou took Ichigo upstairs to his room, there, he laid her gently in his bed. Ryou then examined Ichigo's state, with his high level of intelligence, he was able to figure out that she wouldn't need treatment, just a good nights rest and a small portion of breakfast the next day. 'You will be alright my sweet strawberry'

The next morning, Ichigo woke up with a head, that felt like it was about to explode. She tried to get up, but her legs wouldn't let her, so she lay back down, and rested her head on the pillow. A few minutes later, Ryou walked into the room, "Good morning Ryou" she said, with the biggest smile, she was happy to see her beloved again. "Are you hungry?" he asked sitting down on the bed. "No, not really" Ichigo replied staring into his aqua marine eyes, to her they were like shining blue topazes, each glistening in the suns rays. "Ichigo I need to ask you something" he said in a stern voice, his face showing no sign of emotion. "What is it?" she asked this, even thought she knew what she was going to ask. "What happened to you last night?" his face serious, he needed to know the answer, to confirm his accusation. Before she could start, tears started to pour from her eyes, "he...he….he forced….something…down my… throat...went…black" she couldn't go on, the tears were too much, and she leaned onto Ryou's now wet chest. "Who, who did that to you?" he asked, stroking her hair. "M...M…Masaya"

Well there you go, that was longer now wasn't it, so don't tell me I should make them longer, I can't write long pages like some people can. Well please R and R, I want to know how people like this chapter, alright. The next might take a while, cause I'm going on holidays, I'll take my dad's laptop, and type up my next story, but I won't be able to post it, I'll try but I can't guarantee it, but email me and give me ideas, MEOW55 xoxoxo


	5. Everyone Hates Masaya

Hiya everybody, at the moment I'm on holidays, I am at my sisters then going up to a family reunion, gezze my family on my mums side is huge!

Well anyway, I am a very sad, my oldest dog that I have had since I was really little just was put down, because she wasn't eating, the problem after all was failing kidneys. She wasn't in pain so that was good, and in human years she was over 102 years old, WOW!

Well thanks to the reviewers, I won't do a big thank you speech cause that's just really boring. I'm waiting for my sister to get home, plus I have to practice "The Last Post" on my trumpet to play at the reunion, well on with the story.

P.S I don't own Tokyo Mew Mew, and if I did, Masaya would have been fed to hungry alligators and Ryou would have married Ichigo.

"You don't have to say anymore" he said, stroking her cherry red hair. "But…he...he" her words stuttered, her puffy red eyes giving way to even more tears. Ryou didn't like seeing her cry, in fact any girl cry, but he let it go, he only had one thing on his mind, and that was Masaya.

She laid in his arms, holding on to his now extremely wet t-shirt, once again (If you remember from last chapter.)Even though the tears clouded her vision, Ichigo saw that he was angry, while being soft and gentle, Ryou was also angry and ready to explode. "R…R…Ryou" she stuttered, through her tear stained eyes, Ichigo could still see his aqua marine orbs looking down on her "What is it my Strawberry" "Are…you ok?" she asked

His gaze when straight down to the floor, he let go of Ichigo, his hands, that were holding her just seconds ago, had turned from the gentle soothing palms. into strong fists of rage.

Ryou stood up, his body lifeless but still sturdy and strong, he got started on walking to the exit, but Ichigo called "Where are you going?" Ryou just ignored the question and walked out. He was after all blinded with rage, nothing would stand in his way, he had to get to Masaya with any means necessary

"I can't believe it" Masaya yelled at himself as he walked down the street, "I'm better then that blonde headed, blue eyed, boss of hers" he punched at a concrete wall. "I mean, I'm smart, a swordsman and popular, what more could she want?" he asked himself

Just round the corner, Ryou was walking down the street, and he overheard the conversation that Masaya was having with himself. 'Well for one, I'm not a bad boyfriend, I wouldn't cheat on her and I love her' Ryou said to himself. His thoughts trailed back to his sweet strawberry.

As Masaya started rubbing his hand after the pain he just suffered hitting a solid concrete wall. "A great guy like me should be able to have more then one girlfriend" he said to himself again, being totally full of himself. Right at the moment he said this aloud, Ryou walked around the corner.

"No, and you shouldn't of done anything to hurt Ichigo" he said, his hands in his pockets. "What's it to you, Shirogane?" he asked in his now usual cocky tone. "Because I care for her, not like you ever did" Ryou stared right into his eyes. The way he did, it was like holding something red in front of a bull. This provoked Masaya, he didn't want to feel smaller then Ryou, he had to stand so he would look strong.

"You don't deserve her Masaya" Ryou said in his usual cool voice, but this time, he didn't want to hurt him, he just wanted to see him cry. But this made Masaya snap, his rage got the better of him. He ran up to Ryou and tried to hit him in the stomach with a fist of fury, Ryou was stunned by this move of his, It was so hasty and so easy to dodge, Why? He moved out of the way and Masaya fell to the ground as he missed. But before he could hit the ground, Ryou kneed him in the ribs.

Masaya spluttered out drops of blood from his mouth, he started coughing as he tried to regain his balance. "You had you're chance to have her, but you blew it, doing that was your first mistake" Ryou said walking over to the now hurt Masaya. "And the second one was thinking that you could beat me in fist fight" he said coldly, as he kicked him again into the park.

Using a large oak tree to hold onto, Masaya stood up. He flew a punch at Ryou, but this time, Ryou was caught off guard. He hit him right in the jaw.

"AHHHH!" Ryou shouted as he fell back against the tree. His body slid down the trunk of the tree. He got to his feet, blood was sliding down from the corner of his mouth.

"Not so tough now are ya?" Masaya said, thinking highly of himself. When it came around, Ryou was gone, he couldn't see him anywhere. Masaya searched all around, but no sign of him. "He must of ran away in fear" he gave a smirk.

But little did he know, Ryou didn't run away, in fact he was right above him, he stood in the tree, silently. Not a single muscle twitched, Ryou was perfectly still, not even the leaves that fell off the branches gave him away, he was hidden from view, not to be seen by anyone, or anything.

As Masaya was about to walk away, Ryou leapt from the tree that he was hiding in, he landed flat on his feet, right in front of Masaya. Before he could've realised what was happening, Ryou kicked him in the shin, he fell over and winced in pain. "I would never ran from a coward like you" he said as he punched him in the head. By the second, Masaya was getting more and more hurt. But this wasn't wrong, after all he was the one who started it, so if you want to put it bluntly, Ryou was just defending himself.

Masaya managed to stand up, he wasn't going to give up without a fight. He was very weak, but he attempted to throw a punch anyway. His arm stretched out as much as it possibly could, then, CRACK! His elbow broke, but that didn't bother him, he was to determined to show Ryou that he was the superior man. As his feeble body leaned in towards his ex's new boyfriend, The same leg that Ryou had kicked earlier, gave way. Masaya, once again fell towards the grass below him, he hit the ground with a loud thump!

He sat their, his body lifeless and weak, apart from the occasional twitch or two, he didn't move. Ryou soon came to the conclusion that he was surely going to die, in the next couple of ours or so. Ryou decided that he deserved every moment of pain that he was suffering. He left him there, to die. So he walked away, hands in his pockets. Like he hadn't seen a thing.

Ryou had made his way back to the Café, with only minor injuries, (That was compared to the ones that Masaya had anyway) as he entered his home, he found Ichigo sitting down on one of the Café chairs. "RYOU!" she yelled running over and hugging him as tight as she could. "What happened to you?" she asked, gazing up into his big blue eyes. He didn't want to tell her that he had hurt or maybe killed Masaya. "Uh, Nothing I'm fine" he said embracing her, to reassure her that everything is ok.

To Ichigo, Ryou didn't look ok to her, he had blood dripping from his mouth, cuts and bruises all over his body. But she also knew that if she asked and persisted as much as he could, he wouldn't tell her. So she decided to just forget about it. She loved him and he loved her, and she had a feeling that he would tell her sooner or later.

Well everybody how was that, I hoped you liked it, there will be one more chapter and I got someone to help me with it, thanks again RyousRanye, you rock! Well my sister is here and we are catching up, so yeah, I got to go Luv Ya Lots. MEOW55


	6. Realizations

Hi everyone, yes I know in my last chapter I said there would only be one more chapter, but I just need to clear up a couple of things, because if I don't It just won't sound right so here goes.

"So, uh I think I should clean those wounds" Ichigo said averting her eyes to the cuts all over his body. 'Wounds? There minor cuts what is she talking about?' He wondered to himself, as he stared at her hazel eyes that were concentrating on the "Wounds" all over his body. Ichigo turned around and ran off towards the first-aid kit in the kitchen.

Ryou sat down on the chair and gave a loud sigh, his hand on his chin. "She worries too much" he said aloud. "Well at least I'm not as bad off as Masaya" he gave a slight chuckle at the thought of that guy standing up to him, even though he knew that he couldn't beat him.

Ichigo came running into the room, with a bottle of iodine, some bandages, cotton wool, and a mug of hot chocolate. "I'm back" she said, struggling to breathe. "Bloody heal, why does she need to run, it's not like I'm like Masaya" he gave a slight smirk, "What did you say?" she asked "Oh, uh, nothing" he lied, 'ah well, she's that gullible she won't know I'm lying.' he thought. "Well, if you say so"

She then placed the bottle of iodine, the bandages, cotton wool and the mug of hot chocolate carefully down on the table and urged Ryou to drink the brown slush she had made for him. "But" "Just drink it and stop your complaining" as she pushed it towards him, not spilling a drop of the dark, chocolaty liquid. "But you could of contaminated it" he said gazing at her. He then looked down at it. It was a disgusting brown or black, the marshmallows had melted, and gone into a runny goo that was floating on top.

"Come on, your dripping wet and cold" "Well…" Ryou's voice trailed off. Ichigo jumped up like she had seen a ghost, she was holding her face like she was the person out of the portrait 'The Scream' by Edward Munich "A towel, I forgot a towel" she screamed, she ran around in circles. "Calm down Ichigo, I don't need one" He said as he stood up and held his arms out to pat her back, but before he could touch a hair on her head, she ran off in the direction of the closet.

"She can be so weird" Ryou said as he sat back down "I don't know what I am going to do about her" he gave smirk, he then noticed the mug of hot chocolate that Ichigo had made him, "It can't be that bad" he said to himself, he took the white china mug in his hands, as Ryou held it up to his lips, he hesitated. The mug reached his soft cold lips; he took a sip of the brown liquid. It tasted…sweet? What? Something that Ichigo made tasted nice? Ryou was surprised, but he was also relieved that it didn't kill him. As he went to take another gulp, Ichigo came bursting into the room, full of energy she came out holding a large white towel.

"I found one" she shouted, this took Ryou by surprise again, and he spilt the hot chocolate all over his shirt. Ichigo gave a little giggle as she walked over to Ryou and wrapped the towel around his shoulders. "I guess you like my concoction" she laughed, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. After she let out her laugh, she skipped over to the table.

Ichigo then took the bottle of iodine and poured some of it on the cotton wool, she then dabbed it on one of the cuts on Ryou's leg. He flinched. "It's going to hurt, if you want them to heal that is" She kept at it, repeating the process working her way from the lower leg all the way up to the forehead.

An hour later

"All done" Ichigo said leaning upwards away from Ryou, she wiped away the sweat from her forehead, this was intense, and she was so close to Ryou. There lips were almost touching, even if she did love him, it still felt awkward. I mean, after all this time, finally getting together, it was weird, but soothing in a way.

As she was tending to him, Ryou closed his eyes and stared off into space, daydreaming, not about anything in particular just, daydreaming. Then he dozed off into a napping state Ichigo looked at him; she saw the look on his face. 'He looked so cute when he is napping' she smiled. 'How can he nap when this iodine is stinging?" she wondered to herself, 'well I better see to it that he doesn't fall completely asleep. "Ryou, Ryou, I'm done" she said, but no reply. "Ryou" she nudged him, but he just murmured. Then, a response. "Oh Ichigo, your so pretty in that dress" Ryou said out loud. "But I'm, oh, he must be dreaming" she giggled, "He is such a pervert" she said. Then an idea. Maybe this will wake him. "THANK YOU FOR THE RAISE RYOU!"

She yelled. Ryou woke up like a jolt of lightning, "I didn't give you a raise" he said, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah I know, but it was the only way to wake you up" Ichigo said, she decided to keep what she heard to herself. "But now that we are on the subject…" she said averting her gaze. "No!" that was it, a blunt no. 'Well that's nothing new' Ichigo thought to herself.

Ichigo then walked down the hall and into the employees lounge. She then sat down on the large, fitted couch. Her arm stretched as she reached for the remote, she grabbed it and turned the television on. As the screen came on, it showed the daily news. Her eyes were glued to the square box and her ears were perked, at what the presenter had said.

"We are back, and we now bring you the case of Masaya Aoyama, this young teenager was found in the centre of town, he was clinging on to life as he was rushed to hospital. But sadly he passed away in the waiting room"

"We now take you live to the parents of Masaya"

As this was said Ryou walked past the lounge. 'It wasn't my fault, it was self-defence, and he attacked me' he thought. He gave a slight shrug. He then looked into the employees lounge, and he saw Ichigo, giggling? "He deserved it" she said

TV PRESENTER:

"We have just got the word that Masaya Aoyama, had committed several murders of young girls, it has been said that he cheated on them, then, not long after, he stabbed them with a knife through the chest, as told be a victim that was lucky enough to escape" "We know take you to the police chief in charge of cases like these"

Ichigo switched off the TV, and walked out of the room, there she saw Ryou leaning against the wall. "Hey Ichigo, you want to go out to dinner tonight?"

Well there u go all done, now there is 1 more chapter left, I PROMISE, I won't give away the secret just yet though, well to all you Masaya haters I hoped you like that one, DOWN WITH MASAYA! That's what I always say, well love ya lots MEOW55 xoxoxox


	7. Fill In

Final Chapter: Epilogue

Ichigo happily entered the Café with a smile on her face and a bounce in her step.

It had been six years since Ryou had returned to her from a fight with Masaya

And although he had been badly hurt Masaya had definitely been the loser of that particular battle.

After Masayas death and after the announcement of his past several other victims of his who had managed to escape had come forward.

They had all been emotional train wrecks but with counselling and professional help they had improved.

Some had even formed a survivors support group, which was open to all survivors of any ordeal.

It was one of the few positive things that had come from Masaya's death.

Ichigo had even helped to set it up and Ryou had helped with financing.

Ichigo had been dating Ryou lately and had been unbelievingly happy. The Mews had also finally gotten over their shock of the couples co-existence and accepted it for what it was.

They had all continued to battle aliens and other threats to the World and surprisingly they had all managed to still have a life.

Today for example, Ryou had given them all the day off and asked Ichigo to come over anyway so that they could spend the day together.

Walking through the empty Café towards the staircase Ichigo remembered the first time she had walked up those stairs and into the room where Ryou had stood topless.

She blushed at the memory.

True she had done it several time since but it didn't change the fact that he had a great body at it looked extremely tantalising unclothed.

Gradually she made her way up the stairs. Once she had reached the top she moved to Ryous door and knocked.

Hearing a muffled call for her to enter she did so.

What she saw when she did enter SURPRISED HER.

Ryous room, which had been sparse and empty when she was last there, had changed. It had been decorated and in the centre stood its owner.

But was most surprising was that Ryou was dressed up, as in the sense that he was wearing a tuxedo and holding a rose and dress for Ichigo.

"Wha…what's going on?" stammered Ichigo. "Were not going to Paris again are we?" Ryou laughed, remembering the last time he had surprised her with a trip to Paris, How was he supposed to have known that every French guy around loved red heads and would hit on her.

"Just put on the dress Strawberry." Then he left the room and made his way to the café serving area to await her.

Left in his room, Ichigo stared at the dress. I t was beautiful. It was a seductive pink and elegantly simple in design.

Deciding that there was no harm in going along with another one of Ryou's plans, so she slowly slipped the dress on, luxuriating in the feeling of the fabric on her skin.

Looking into the mirror, her eyes widened. The dress made her look taller and even slimmer than she was.

It clung in all the right places, it gently accentuated her muscle tonation and it complemented her skin tonation and hair colour.

To put it simply, she looked stunning. Letting down her hair, she reglossed her lips, slipped into the shoes Ryou had provided and hurried downstairs.

Ryou was pacing at the base of the stairs when she appeared at the top of them. He nearly fell over.

His Strawberry looked even more beautiful in the dress than even he had imagined when he had chosen it for her.

Grinning he offered her his arm when she to reached the bottom of the stairs. They smiled at each other.

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you."

"Ryou will you please tell me where you are taking me?" Ryou just smiled mysteriously.

He had shepherded her into a limo and then proceeded to blindfold her. She had no idea where they were going he preferred to keep it that way.

Glancing out the window he saw that they had arrived at their destination.

Smiling he took his loved ones hand and guided her inside. It was deserted thanks to his hiring the place for the day and all that was there was a table set for two with Ichigo and his favourite foods, strawberries being featured in almost every dish.

Smiling in anticipation Ryou removed the blindfold.

Ichigo was wide-eyed and speechless.

"Wow. This is amazing. Are we in the Endangered Animals Exhibit?"

Ichigo spoke in wonder ad curiosity. Smiling gently Ryou nodded. Then in front her startled face he sank to one knee and held out a ring box,

"Ichigo will you marry me?"

Ichigo couldn't believe, it wow, she was going to have such and awesome wedding, just wait she couldn't wait to tell the Mews and then she saw Ryous face, patiently waiting with all his love for her clearly visible in his beautiful eyes,

" Yes, yes, yes, yes…" and then she was being kissed.

Their kiss contained all their silent promises, love and dreams for one another. Breaking apart they looked at each other on wonder and then Ichigo said, " So Ryou, does mean I get that raise?"

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Well there you go, I give my regards to RyousRayne who wrote this chapter for me thanks sooooo much RyousRayne.

MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I lied there is going to be another chapter the wedding MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Xox SharinganAngel xox


	8. Wedding

**Ello everyone, I'm finally back on F.F Net. I've been writing another story that has nothing to do with anything on F.F Net so I won't post it.**

**Now for all those who remember in chapter 5 I said there would be only one more chapter, but **_Princess of the Highlands _**suggests that I should do another chappie. So I will. Here you go!!!**

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The sweet scent of roses engulfed the air space around the petite lake, while birds whistled a delightful tune, high up in the tree tops.

The wind rustled the leaves, and blew silently across the water of the gorgeous lagoon.

Murmurs of excitement came from the handful of people that were decked out in beautiful gowns and suits. As they awaited the arrival of the bride and groom.

The time had arrived. When Ichigo Momomiya and Ryou Shirogane would unite in holy matrimony, under the eyes of God the would be recognised as one.

The guests grew silent, as Ryou walked up to the alter with Keiichiro. He stood up on the small platform, and anticipated the arrival of his beautiful strawberry.

The husband to be wore a black suit and tie, with a white shirt. In his breast pocket there was a red rose. His hair hung in its usual position, but just back enough to reveal his sharp aqua-marine eyes.

Then, 'Here comes the bride' started to play, Ryou's head turned towards the aisle, where his beautiful strawberry was.

In front was Purin, she was chosen to be the flower girl. But seeing her now, maybe that _wasn't _such a good idea after all. She was going a bit overboard.

In the middle were the three brides maids. They were all wearing, long, silky black dresses, and they each held a bouquet of red roses. Mint was in front, she was the maid of honour. Followed by Lettuce and Zakuro.

At the back was the ring boy, Kyoto.

He was Zakuro's first child. After the death of Masaya, Zakuro met a nice young man, who worked as an actor. They got married quickly and soon Zakuro had her very first son, Kyoto.

But out of all of them, the one who caught Ryou's eye was his strawberry, she looked absolutely stunning. Ryou never imagined that she could get anymore beautiful, but there was proof.

Ichigo wore a beautiful baby pink dress, with white completions. It had strawberries in certain places, and flowers everywhere else. Her veil was incredibly well made, and it was held onto her head with a rim of roses.

Her dazzling pink hair looked like pure silk. Ichigo also held a bouquet of red roses at her chest.

As she made her way up onto the platform, Ryou couldn't take his eyes off her, she was just so remarkably attractive.

They grasped each others hands and smiled, everyone knew that they were made for each other.

"Do you Ryou Shirogane take Ichigo Momomiya to be your wife, to love and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

"I do"

"And do you Ichigo Momomiya take Ryou Shirogane to be your husband, to love and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

"I do"

"Are there any objections?"

Apart from the wind whistling in the tree tops, and the birds chirping in the sky, The ceremony guests were silent. Not one sound from any of them.

"Then, by the power vested in me, I pronounce you…."

His voice was cut of by a sudden shake in the earth, and a rumble of thunder in the sky

"What? Thunder? But it's a perfectly sunny day!"

Lettuce exclaimed as everyone in the park either had a confused or terrified look on their face.

"Sorry kitty cat, but we wanted to come and crash the party"

Ichigo, Ryou and the rest of the mews looked up into the sky, as Kish, Pai and Tart appeared.

"Oh, Come On!"

Ichigo shouted, annoyed by the fact that a perfect day had to be ruined. Fortunately for them, everyone who came to the wedding already knew about the aliens, so there was no need for an explanation

"Don't worry kitty cat, were not gunna cause any trouble, infact we just crashed the party cus we weren't on the guest list!"

"HUH?!"

All the mews looked up in disbelieve, that wasn't like them.

"What are you trying to pull?!"

Mint yelled, dropping her bouquet in the process.

"Look were not gunna cause any trouble so get on with this 'wedding' as you call it"

Pai exclaimed, as the three aliens quietly sat down in the back row, waiting patiently for the ceremony to resume.

"Just forget them"

Ryou said turning back to Ichigo, she gave out a small sigh, and then once again held hands.

"You can start from were you left off"

Ichigo said to the sermon with a smile. He smiled back, and started to speak.

"Now, as I was saying before, by the power vested in me, I pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride."

As Ryou and Ichigo lent in for a passionate kiss, everyone rose to their feet and applauded the newly wedded couple.

The broke apart from their kiss and made their way down the aisle. When they reached the end of the aisle, Ichigo threw the bouquet over her head and into the crowd.

They all leapt for it, but only one succeeded. Purin Fong. She then went over a gave Tart a big kiss right on the cheek.

"Yuck, get off me"

Everyone chuckled.

After that Ryou and Ichigo Slid into the side of the limo that awaited them at the other side of the lagoon.

Then, they closed the door, and drove off into the sunset.

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**Phew, im done. Now plz plz plz plz plz plz plz plz plz review I LOVE getting reviews!!!!!!!!**

**Cya soon.**

**Xox SharinganAngel xox**


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